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Welcome to the Daily Blade. The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit, the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil. Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson, and they stand ready to equip men for the fight. Let's sharpen up.

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All right, guys, we made it to the end of another week. This week we've been looking at real-life stories of courage and sacrifice from the tragic shipwreck and sinking of the RMS Titanic on April the 15th of 1912, and how they relate to historical occurrences described in God's Word. So I teased today's episode on Monday of this week, so I'm glad you're here for it. It is simply one of the most moving and powerful stories of evangelism that I've ever heard in my entire life. So today I'm going to tell you about one of the greatest heroes in the history of Christianity, and I would venture to guess that almost all of you guys have never heard of this man. Right? I'm talking about John Harper. So John Harper was a 39-year-old Scottish Baptist evangelist and pastor of Walworth Road Baptist Church in London. So he was a widow and it was raising his only child, a six-year-old girl named Annie Jesse, when he, his sister and Annie boarded the RMS Titanic as second-class passengers on April the 10th of 1912. So Pastor John was traveling from London to Chicago where he was set to preach for several weeks at Moody Church. So this was where he actually was a guest preacher the previous fall and he was coming back to continue his ministry in America. So obviously, those plans changed entirely when the Titanic hit an iceberg on April the 14th 1912. So Pastor John quickly surmised that his fate was likely already set, but that he could still save his daughter and his sister. So Pastor John quickly got Annie and his sister to a lifeboat. Now here's where things really get interesting. Okay, harper could have taken a seat on the lifeboat next to his daughter, because he was the only surviving parent of Annie, right? But instead he decided to stay behind on the ship. Why would he do that? Well, it became apparent very quickly, so that he could share the gospel of Jesus Christ. I mean, just think about the mindset of John Harper as you continue with the story.

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So, as witnesses reported, john Harper frantically and fervently began confronting people that were on the boat deck, many of whom would likely perish very soon, to accept Jesus Christ. I mean, he was compelling them, as Charles Spurgeon taught us in his famous sermon, compelled them to come in. He was quoted right as screaming women and children and the unsaved to the lifeboats. So a witness actually saw Pastor John give up his life vest to a passenger that didn't have one. So Pastor John had found out that this passenger was not a follower of Christ. And the witness said that Pastor John said this to the passenger. You need this more than I do. So Pastor John, in this moment, was sealing his own fate in the chance that it would give this one passenger more time to accept Christ.

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So early on the morning of April the 15th 1912, the Titanic sank into the freezing waters of the North Atlantic. John Harper was one of roughly 1,500 people that met their fates in the frigid ocean. But that isn't nearly the end of Pastor John's story Without a life vest. Nearly the end of Pastor John's story Without a life vest. Surely, knowing that he was only moments away from death, pastor John swam from person to person asking them are you saved? Do you know Jesus Christ? And one man actually called out to Harper saying that he was not saved. Harper swam in the frozen waters to this man and immediately quoted Acts 16 31 Believe on the Lord, jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Those were the last words that John Harper ever uttered. This man said that Pastor John disappeared under the surface of the water, never to come back up. He literally died with the gospel on his frozen lips. That man went on to accept Christ and became known as John Harper's last convert.

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So this incredible story reminded me of Stephen as described in Acts 6 and 7. So in Acts 6, stephen is doing many great wonders and signs, and the members of the synagogue, they, really didn't like this very much, so they concocted a scheme to seize him, accuse him of blasphemy and then have him killed. So when Stephen was brought before the high priest of the Sanhedrin, he gave a blistering speech about Abraham being called by God, joseph being rejected by his brothers, moses being rejected by the Israelites, the law being disobeyed and the temple being misunderstood and a bunch of other stuff. But let's actually go to Acts 7, and we're going to start in verse 54. Now, when they heard these things, they were enraged and they ground their teeth at him.

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But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said and he said and as they were stoning Stephen, he called out Lord, jesus, receive my spirit. And, falling to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice Lord, do not hold this sin against them. And when he had said this, he fell asleep. Stephen's final words were a proclamation of the divinity of Jesus and a calm plea for Jesus to receive him and to not smite the men that were murdering him. He died with Jesus on his lips. He, like John Harper, was evangelizing until the moment of death. May we prepare our hearts, minds and spirits to do the same as these two giants of the faith. Thank you for your attention this week. Stay sharp.

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Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go. If you want to help equip other men for the fight, share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review. Stay sharp.